About Me
Shotgun Wedding...the Shotgun Boyz...SGW....Shirtlift Wednesday...Sh*tgun W*nkstain...the variations of the name were endless...as were the line-up changes in the bands 7-year history from 1987-1994!The band was formed around '86/'87 by guitarist Gray Ettrick and bassist/singer Paul Glover - once drummer John "JJ" Mcgrath and second guitarist Dave Meehan were recruited in 1987, the name Shotgun Wedding was chosen over others such as Lifeline and Tweety Pie (!)It was the era of Guns 'n' Roses' emergence, and SGW thought they'd found their 'Axl Rose' when singer Ant joined in early 1988, but his tenure was to be short-lived and drummer John decided he fancied a crack at being the new singer. He was hired after a suitably energetic audition, as was new drummer Ian Danter, a local musician who'd roadied for the band up to that point.Within 6 months of this line up forming, Shotgun Wedding were a headline act at the notorious Edwards No. 8 rock club in Birmingham, at a time where competition between local bands was fierce...Gunfire Dance, Suicide Blonde, Patriot, Skeleton Swing and Rattlesnake Kiss were all vying for the position of most important unsigned rock act in the city.Indeed, by late 1989 it had become a competition between Shotgun Wedding and Rattlesnake Kiss as to who could break bar takings records at Edwards whenever they played...one month Shotgun held the honour, the next it was the Rattlesnake boys who claimed it back...Whilst Shotgun Wedding had good songs ('Pushin Shovin' and 'I Like It That Way' for example) and could sing and play well, it was undoubtedly the visual presence of the band - especially singer JJ - that drew large crowds to see them play. Rumours abounded that CBS wanted to sign the band and had seen them at a sell-out tour-de-force gig at Edwards in the Autumn of 1989, but nothing came of the rumours and JJ left in early 1990, with the remaining members desperately needing a replacement to keep their momentum going.After several prospective frontmen came and went over many frustrating months, the next SGW singer was right under their noses all along - Jon Remington was a friend of Paul's who loved singing and despite the fact that he had zero experience of playing live, he got the gig in September 1990 and the Shotgun Wedding gigging machine cranked into life again.Demo's of more polished material than before (with songs like 'Ashamed' and 'Fine Time To Die' standing out) reached the ears of Kerrang! magazine, and soon the new line-up was earning glowing live reviews and making new friends in venues away from the Midlands, like Cardiff and London.It wasn't to last, though, as bassist Paul decided to quit as 1991 became 1992, but help was at hand in the shape of new bassist Ash Thompson (a buddy of Kerrang! scribe Steve Beebee) and Shotgun Wedding rewrote their live set once again with exciting new ditties like 'One Over The Eight' and 'Better Off Out Of It...' sounding fantastic live - things were once again looking up.But - you guessed it - cue another departure...this time singer Jon, and for the umpteenth time the band had to advertise in the 'Musicians Wanted' columns. As it happened, the man they found, Andy Booker, was arguably the best singer the band ever had with his bluesy stylings, and the new material written for him suited his vocals down to the ground - 'Crushed' and 'She's From A Different Solar System' in particular...But it was now 1994 - Shotgun Wedding's time had seemingly come and gone, despite the quality of the later material and the band split that summer, with guitarists Gray & Dave going on to form Unfaith with "JJ", the singer who'd been in Shotgun not 4 years before. Ash joined Crisis Edge, Andy performed as a solo acoustic artist, whilst drummer Ian joined Welsh glamsters City Kidds who became Sons Of God.So many memories...Gray's ludicrously pink guitars; Paul's headscarves; JJ's green spandex; Ian's cycling shorts; the HUGE logo with 2 red roses that more resembled red cabbages; Dave's refusal to sing anything; rumours that one of the band was dead; winning best backdrop at a 'Battle Of The Bands' contest in Coventry - and many more...Have a listen to the 4 songs from throughout Shotgun Wedding's career and transport yourself back to a time where Hard Rock Hairspray, eyeliner and cuban heels RULED!!!I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4
